A man and a woman were arrested at a Carlsbad residence Monday
after police linked the man to an afternoon robbery spree that
included banks in Carlsbad and Oceanside, with the thief claiming
to be the notorious "Geezer Bandit" during the last heist,
authorities said.

However, FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth said thatinvestigators do not believe the man was actually the GeezerBandit.

Foxworth said Monday night that the evidence thus far "does not
support any claims" that the person taken into custody was the
bandit.

The man was later identified as Ed Power, according to Carlsbad
police Lt. Kelly Cain.

Power is apparently a former Mongol outlaw biker, who left thegang after a stint in prison in 1991 on an assault with a deadlyweapon charge, according to a
2005 North County Times story
that featured thethen 53-year-old man.

On Monday evening, police were waiting for a search warrant to
enter a home on the 3700 block of Village Drive, where the man
suspected in three robbery attempts earlier in the day was
arrested.

The Geezer Bandit has held up 10 banks in San Diego County and
one in Temecula in a series that began in August 2009, according to
the FBI.

On Monday, just after 3 p.m., employees at the North Coast
Medical Center on El Camino Real, just south of Marron Road, in
Carlsbad reported that a man in his late 50s with long, gray hair
had handed over a note demanding money, Cain said.

The would-be thief left when an employee told him the business
had no cash, but an employee got a license plate number on the PT
Cruiser he left in, and the registered owner's address came back to
the Village Drive address in Carlsbad, Cain said.

About 30 minutes later, someone matching the same thief's
description tried to rob the Bank of America just a block north on
El Camino Real.

Cain did not immediately have details about what happened there,
but he said the man didn't get any money. Six minutes later and
several blocks away in Oceanside, someone fitting the same
description robbed the Wells Fargo at 2701 Vista Way in Oceanside,
authorities said.

Oceanside police Lt. Leonard Mata said initial reports were that
the robber was an older white man with glasses who claimed to be
the Geezer Bandit. During the robbery, he lifted his shirt to show
a handgun in his waistband, Mata said. He got away with some cash,
leaving in a maroon PT Cruiser, Mata said.

A little later, Carlsbad police were watching the Village Drive
address, Cain said. They saw the man come home in the PT Cruiser,
and officers surrounded the house. The suspect and a woman came
outside and were arrested about 30 minutes later, Cain said.

Witnesses have described the Geezer Bandit as elderly, white,
about 6 feet tall and 190 pounds. He often carries a leather
planner with a gun tucked inside.

FBI officials have said the robber appears to be in his 70s, but
the FBI has suspected he might be wearing elaborate make-up or a
sophisticated mask or gloves.

Scot Leverett, 31, said he lives two doors away from the man who
was arrested Monday. Leverett said the suspect is in his late 50s,
with gray hair and aged skin. He appears to live modestly with his
wife in the rental property, working construction, the neighbor
said.

Leverett said he has seen photos of the Geezer Bandit, and he
said his neighbor would have to wear a disguise to look like
that.